24 Spiritual Leadership
After discussing the Houses of Justice and civil sovereignty, a necessary question remains unresolved. If no institution governs belief, worship, or conscience, what form, if any, does spiritual leadership take?
Bahá’u’lláh is unambiguous. Authority over the soul belongs to God alone. No House of Justice, no ruler, and no scholar possesses the right to command belief, regulate spiritual practice, or act as an intermediary between a person and God. Yet this absence of coercive authority does not imply the absence of leadership. On the contrary, Bahá’u’lláh speaks repeatedly and with great intensity about those who influence souls.
This chapter will examine spiritual leadership as moral authority instead of institutional power, as service rather than control, and as illumination rather than governance. Before we identify the role of spiritual leaders, let us recount some of the firm prohibitions we have stated earlier in this book. Baha’u’llah says none possess authority over belief, over spiritual practices, over interpretation, nor from using names, persons, and traditions to veil a person from accessing God.
24.1 To the Concourse of Ulama (Religious Scholars)
Both the Bab and Baha’u’llah were considerably critical towards the Muslim ulama. The ulama are people who fulfilled a wide range of roles within the religion, such as scholarship, theological law, judges, interpreters, transmitters, government officials of Islamic states, teaching, community leaders, and other scholarly roles. They can be incredibly influential at all levels of society. Most of these roles are not exactly unique to Islam, though. A person can see aspects of these roles in all religions. Thus, the guidance Baha’u’llah offers in the Kitab-i-Aqdas can be applicable to many aspects of spiritual leadership of all religions, to include the religions the Bab and Baha’u’llah led.
This section will be a summary of the guidance for the ulama from paragraphs 165-172:
Do not view yourself as greater than God. This can manifest itself in actions, not just words.
Do not worship the idols of your own desires.
Abandon your illusions and turn towards God.
Do not weigh the Book of God with the rules and sciences you possess. This means old techniques may not actually be useful or relevant to understanding the Book of God, even Books such as the Qur’an.
Do not weigh the Book of God with your own desires. Let God guide you instead of you trying to guide God.
Do not corrupt the Cause of God.
Do not create veils which hinder people’s recognition of God.
Do not let names keep you from God, such as the names of prior Prophets or the names of prior Books.
Do not let your allegiance to a prior Prophet veil you from the authority of God.
Do not let the spiritual practice of remembrance veil you. This refers more about performative worship instead of transformative.
Do not become the cause of discord.
Do not be the cause for others to reject God.
Many of these prohibitions may seem as though they had been discussed in various aspects of this book. This is because, like sovereign leaders, spiritual leaders are also normal people, like you and I. They have the same rights, the same responsibilities, their own spiritual journey, beliefs, spiritual life, social life, affectionate relationships, and goals. But, as we can see with some of Baha’u’llah’s counsels, He was concerned with their influence over others. For various reasons, people who take on the various roles of the ulama chose these roles. They chose to take on certain responsibilities, and these responsibilities have real consequences within this world, especially to those individuals who relied on the ulama for guidance and salvation.
One of Baha’u’llah’s missions was to liberate the souls from corrupt spiritual leaders. Yet, He did not abolish spiritual leadership. Instead, Baha’u’llah offers His own vision of spiritual leadership.
24.2 Scholars in the Cause of Baha
In the Kitab-i-Aqdas #173, Baha’u’llah offers these praises for scholars in the Cause of Baha:
Blessed are you, O concourse of scholars in the Cause of Bahá! By God, you are the waves of the Most Great Ocean, the stars of the heavens of bounty, and the banners of victory between the heavens and the earth. You are the dawning-places of steadfastness among the people and the rising-points of utterance for those in existence.
He also offers blessings to those who turn towards the scholars, and woe to the headless. These scholars and those who turn to them, and are nourished by the Revelation of God through Baha’u’llah.
24.2.1 Turning To
What does it mean to turn to? In the most simple terms, to turn to someone means to give your attention. The responsibility to turn towards scholars in the cause of Baha is a responsibility for anyone who believes in Baha’u’llah as a Manifestation of God. Yet, Baha’u’llah does not express any rights for scholars. Instead, the prohibitions and admonitions described for the Muslim Ulama would also apply to scholars in the Cause of God.
Without any additional rights, what do we give to scholars? We give our attention and support. Support does not necessarily mean financial support, but any type of support we want to offer. We may share their explanations, insights, and arguments. We may support unfiltered access to historical sources. We may pray for them and their success. And, if a community has the resources to do so, offer financial support for their work or the logistics necessary to complete the work.
Yet, scholars do not carry authority. They have no right nor claim. Any person we turn towards is less authoritative then Baha’u’llah. While a scholar’s work is valuable, it can never supplant the Word of God. Baha’u’llah says after His passing, to refer to what has been revealed from Him. Baha’u’llah is always the primary source until the next Manifestation of God comes. Everything scholars may unveil are portions, never the completeness. We should be careful never to make any scholar a primary source. For example, anyone who reads this book should never refer to this book as a primary source about Baha’u’llah. This is why I provide footnotes throughout, so a person can refer to the revelation itself. Your understanding might be different than mine, you may have better insights, and perhaps the totality of our insights helps others approach Baha’u’llah. It can never replace Baha’u’llah. If we focus on secondary sources and develop scholarship of secondary sources, every level thereafter will get farther and farther from God’s intentions.
None can match Baha’u’llah in the field of mystical insight, knowledge, wisdom, and expression.1
24.3 Examples of Spiritual Leadership Gone Wrong
24.3.1 Shaykh Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi
Baha’u’llah says this about Shaykh Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi:
Mention the Shaykh who was called Muhammad before Hasan, who was among the most learned of scholars in his time.2 When the truth appeared, he and others like him turned away, while one who winnowed wheat and barley turned toward God. He spent his nights and days writing, as he claimed, the judgments of God, but when the Chosen One appeared, not a single letter of his work availed him. Had it benefited him, he would not have turned away from the face through which the countenances of the near ones are illumined. If you had believed in God at His appearance, the people would not have turned away from Him, and what has befallen Us today would not have occurred. Fear God and do not be among the heedless.
He was a the author of “Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-islām,” a book about Shi’a jurisprudence. By this point, jurisprudence sometimes had used the Qur’an as a source, but typically secondary sources were used to determine legal and ethical standards. The emphasis of sources other than God created a veil for al-Najafi and those who regarded al-Najafi as a primary source of understanding. Al-Najafi failed his followers.
24.3.2 Hajjī Mirza Muhammad Karim Khān Kirmānī
Baha’u’llah mentions Karim:
Recall Karim3, when We summoned him to God, and he grew arrogant, following his own desires, even after We sent to him that which delighted the eye of proof in the realms of existence and completed the argument of God upon all in the heavens and the earth. We commanded him to turn in acceptance, as a favor from the Self-Sufficient, the Exalted. Yet he turned away, retreating, until the hosts of torment seized him, as a just decree from God. Verily, We were witnesses.
The following information is a summary from the Hurqalya Publications from the University of California Merced website as of 2025.4 Karim was the self-appointed third leader of the Twelver Shi’a Shaykhi movement.
The Shaykhi movement had started with Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa’i, who became a mujtahid who studied in Karbala at around age 40. A mujtahid was a scholar who was recognized to perform ijtahid, deriving legal rulings based on the Qur’an, Hadith, and other secondary sources. Shayhk Ahmad eventually had visions that the Twelfth Imam would return in 1260AH (late 1843 or early 1844 AD), after 1,000 years of occultation. After he passed away in 1826, his appointed successor Siyyid Kazim Rashti continued this teaching through a newly formalized school called the Shaykhi School. Prior to passing away in 1843, Siyyid Kazim had instructed his students to search for the Qa’im (the returning Twelfth Imam).
Karim did not participate in the search. When one of the Shaykhi students, Mulla Husayn, first recognized the Bab on the evening of May 22, 1844, the Bab became the nominal leader of the Shaykhi School as the Qa’im and Twelfth Imam. Karim did not follow the Bab. Instead, he wrote a refutation called “The Crushing of Falsehood in Refutation of Babism.” The same year the Kitab-i-Aqdas was penned, Karim had passed away. His last act was the writing of a Will and Testament appointing his hereditary descendants as leaders. The Shaykhi School still exists and is currently led by Hajji Sayyid Ali Musawi al-Hifzih.
24.3.3 Mirza Yahya Nuri (Subh-i-Azal)
Baha’u’llah addresses Mirza Yahya:
Say: O Manifestation of rejection, abandon concealment and then speak the truth among the people. By God, My tears have flowed down My cheeks upon seeing you inclining toward your desires and turning away from the One who created and fashioned you. Recall the favor of your Lord when We nurtured you through nights and days for the service of the Cause. Fear God and be among the repentant. Suppose your matter has been mistaken by the people—can it be mistaken by yourself? Fear God, and then remember when you stood in the presence of the Throne and wrote what We revealed to you of the verses of God, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Capable.
Beware lest pride prevent you from turning toward the One True God. Turn to Him and do not fear your deeds, for He forgives whomever He wills by His grace. There is no God but Him, the Forgiving, the Generous. We counsel you for the sake of God; if you accept, it is for your own soul, and if you turn away, your Lord is independent of you and those who follow you with a clear delusion. God has taken the one who misled you. Return to Him, humbled, submissive, and lowly, for He will forgive your misdeeds. Your Lord is indeed the Oft-Forgiving, the Almighty, the Merciful.5
Mirza Yahya Nuri is Baha’u’llah’s half-brother. When he completed his first Bayanic cycle at 19 years of age, the Primal Point had instructed him to execute His Will and Testament.6 Yahya, who was designated with the name Subh-i-Azal by the Bab, was the appointed custodian or steward. By this point in time in 1850, he was considered as a mirror, reflecting the light of God through the Bab. Yahya was not a Manifestation of God.
The testament instructs Subh-i-Azal to do specific acts. The custodian is instructed to safeguard and transmit the writings of the Báb without alteration, to distribute entrusted texts and responsibilities among designated individuals and regions, and to ensure unity, reverence, and fidelity to what has been revealed. He must act only within the limits given, neither adding nor subtracting anything, and preserve the Cause in its existing form until God reveals the next Manifestation. He is to coordinate the dissemination of the writings, protect them from misuse, and ensure that no individual claims excessive authority or possession. His role is custodial rather than sovereign: to maintain order, prevent division, uphold spiritual integrity, and ultimately surrender all authority the moment God makes His will manifest through another. The testament expressed the possibility God could manifest Himself again within the lifetime of Azal.
8 years later in 1858, Baha’u’llah wrote the Tafsir-i-Hu, an explanation of the Name of God “He.” In it, Baha’u’llah affirms Yahya’s status as a Mirror, whose purpose is to reflect divine names and attributes. Yahya is fully capable of reflecting the light of God if he remains faithful to God’s command. It seems Yahya was at the threshold of remaining aligned and potentially turning away. In the same tablet, Baha’u’llah warns Yahya of being proud and exalting himself beyond his role. The Mirror must not mistake itself as the Source.
In 1863, Baha’u’llah had publicly announced that He is “He Whom God Shall Make Manifest.” This was 19 years (a full Bayanic cycle) after the dawning of the Bab, and 13 years after His instruction to Mirza Yahya. Yahya did not recognize Baha’u’llah as a Manifestation of God. By 1868, when both had been taken to Constantinople and Edirne, Baha’u’llah revealed the Kitab-i-Badi. In it, Baha’u’llah describes how Mirza Yahya had violated the trust given to him by the Bab, how he was no longer acting as a custodian. He left the Writings behind in Persia when he migrated to Baghdad. Baha’u’llah says Yahya focused more on concealment than custodianship, withholding the Bab’s Texts, obstructing their circulation, and centralizing authority through himself instead of allowing the Bayani communities to be led by the Bayan.
Outside of custodianship, Baha’u’llah describes Yahya as acting contrary to what God desired of him. Yahya may have been ruled more by fear of others or a fear of losing prestige instead of fearing God. He acted with jealousy, attachment to status, and allowed these feelings to impair his moral conduct. Baha’u’llah accuses him of sowing suspicion, manipulating relationships, and permitting and encouraging harm to others. Yahya struggled with restraint, especially towards women and potentially drugs such as opium and hashish, which may have further multiplied his erratic behaviors. Baha’u’llah instructs Yahya’s followers to read Yahya’s Mustayqiz as evidence of Baha’u’llah’s observations.
In the last year of Baha’u’llah’s life on Earth in 1891, He continued to offer love and forgiveness towards Yahya. He instructs His followers to send someone to Cyprus to look after Yahya with the hope Yahya will recognize God’s love. Still, at this time it was observed some of Yahya’s followers put Yahya’s image above others. His self-exaltation led to others exalting him as an idol.
24.4 Protecting Against Corrupt Spiritual Leaders
In the examples of Hasan al-Najafi, Karim Kirmani, and Mirza Yahya, we see different ways how spiritual leadership was used to self-exalt themselves and mislead others into believing in their exaltation. Each leader claimed rights for themselves which God did not allow, and failed their responsibilities as trustees over God’s trust (the believer). Al-Najafi relied on secondary sources to interpret, Karim self-appointed himself and a hereditary successorship, and Yahya failed in his trusteeship. These three examples are as relevant today as they were when the Kitab-i-Aqdas was written.
By the time each had passed away, their souls were chained by their self-passion and self-indulgence. They failed to liberate themselves and worse yet, they inhibited the liberation of souls who turned towards them. As they pass through the spiritual worlds of God, my hope is they are able to be free of their constraints and can truly be set free.
Chapter 18.1 offers teachings which help protect the community from these types of leaders. These teachings include any claims of authoritative interpretations, of any type of infallibility, boasting, leading others to beg, and other prior religious practices such as ascending pulpits. People must constantly be wary of charismatic personalities who seek to use such claims to secure more rights than God allows and from being responsible over which God had commanded.
24.4.1 Qualities of Disbelievers
To help discern which people may be corrupt spiritual leaders, Baha’u’llah does offer much counsel throughout the Kitab-i-Aqdas. This will be a list of qualities attributed to disbelievers, to include those who claim belief and desire leadership.
They seek prestige to any degree.7
They claim hidden knowledge and esoteric understanding.
They cling to their own principles.8
They are sorrowful.9
They deny what God has permitted.10
They treat outward actions as a substitute for inner sincerity (Example: “I pray in public, therefore I am righteous”).
They hesitate in the Cause of God.11
They are wolves in sheep’s garments.12
They are intoxicated by desire.13
They distort the Word of God.14
24.4.2 Your Responsibility to Remain Free
The foundation to ensuring you do not follow corrupt spiritual leaders is to believe in the rights you have. Believe these rights extend to everyone. Believe in your responsibilities derived in your belief in God. Believe in the responsibilities of those who do lead in any manner. Learn how the trusteeship model can be applied in any spiritual leadership role. Baha’u’llah did not prohibit clergy, nor religious scholarship.
If we refer back to our constellation of unity, we rely on the stars of virtue to guide us. These stars borne from the essence of God, emanating from His will, known to us through the Command and His Manifestation. All of this exists for the transendence and liberation of your soul. While this describes spirituality, what is spirituality without a mode of transportation? Even the most experienced sailors use the stars to navigate and refer to charts, maps, and GPS to reach their destination safely. They captain their vessels. The religion of God, while changeless and eternal in nature, provides us the ability to sail. It is the direction, the stars, the entire constellation. All we have to do is navigate the ship so our soul can ascend. If we place someone else as the star, or some other institution, we are on their spiritual journey, not ours. Any spiritual leader we follow is not the star. They have their spiritual journey. We have ours.
What we can do is allow the diverse observations, expressions, and unique constellations of virtue we all possess to help illuminate each others way. One insight here, another there, and a spiritual practice everywhere gets us to paradise where our Lord awaits for us. Be willing to lead if you feel you are capable and can withstand the temptations of disbelief. Be willing to allow others to lead if another is capable and can withstand the temptations of disbelief. Finally, use your spiritual practice and your constellation of virtues to help you discern the various ways spiritual leadership can be manifested.
As we have a responsibility to turn towards scholars, Baha’u’llah also describes what should happen once He was no longer among us. After His passing in 1892, what was supposed to happen? The next chapter will describe spiritual successorship.